Optimization and characterization of CuO thin films for P-N junction diode application by JNSP technique

The present work illustrates the optimization of substrate temperature, mole concentration and volume of the solution of copper oxide (CuO) thin films prepared by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis (JNSP) technique. Such prepared CuO films were optimized and characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, UV-vis and I-V. From XRD analysis the mole concentration, volume level and substrate temperature of the prepared CuO films were fixed as 0.20 M, 5 ml and 450 °C respectively and optimized for P-N diode application. The XRD pattern of the optimized CuO film reveals monoclinic structure. The surface morphological variations and elemental present were confirmed by SEM and EDX analysis. The optical properties were recorded by UV-vis spectrum and the minimum band gap value is observed as 1.63 eV for 450 °C substrate temperature. The maximum conductivity value of the prepared CuO is recorded as 7.4 × 10−9 S/cm from I-V characterization. Using J-V, the diode parameters of p-CuO/n-Si prepared at 450 °C with 0.2 M and 5 ml were measured in dark and under illumination. The ideality factor (n) and barrier height (Φb) values of p-CuO/n-Si diode are 6.2 and 0.80 eV in dark and 4.6 and 0.81 eV under illumination.